What did you do today?

Shan, my mother is 68. She never had a job (other than being a mother), never really did much housework, and always had high expectations of other people and can be very critical (although she's softened a bit in recent years). She doesn't have a grasp on what it takes to do things and is not terribly sympathetic to others when they are sick. She sometimes fakes being sick or having low blood sugar and I don't know why. In some ways she is a very caring and generous person and in others she is apathetic. It's odd.

My friend's grandfather is in his early 70s and I think he was raised in a culture where just being an older white male meant people were automatically supposed to defer to him, always think about him, and do everything for him. He's been disabled for over 30 years so he's had people waiting on him hand-and-foot and pretty much demands servitude from family members. Without my friend there to dose out his meds for him, he's been taking them incorrectly again- so he's taking his night-time meds in the day then calling people on the phone and falling asleep. He repeatedly called my friend and his fiance when they were at work and when my friend finally answered all he did was yell at him for not coming over to clean his house-- my friend doesn't have time bc he doesn't have a day off until December. The fiance is having some issues. I swear the girl is mentally challenged. She has the attention span of a fruit fly, starts talking over people while they are talking to her, or gets on her phone and starts reading messages or even calls people during a conversation with another person. She also is unable to grasp very simple concepts-- like, she doesn't understand that having a cold is not a reason to go to the ER and that they won't be able to do anything for her. But she has panic attacks about things. My friend is highly intelligent but he keeps dating girls who are below average intelligence and I don't know why.

Gary, that looks awesome!

Havasu, I just stepped in dog crap in the kitchen so I feel ya. Geriatric dog as well-- and I found the dumbass with her nose in the litterbox like she was trying to eat out of it. I put out more food for her and had to grab her behind her front legs to pull her over closer to the bowl because she just stood 4ft away staring at her full food bowl stupified.

Other than the dog crap, I had a good day. Played Elder Scrolls Online, cleaned up the kitchen floor, brought in stuff from the car (that my brother was supposed to bring in but didn't), cuddled the cats, made stuffing for dinner again, and ate a donut.

I had my post op appt today. Surgeon was much kinder, said it was in fact a full thickness tear and not a partial tear, therefore it wouldn't have healed on it's one. I'm glad I held my ground. Start physical therapy next week, thankful to get that going !

went to Arizona to look at homes. No luck, the prices are incredible, and not worth it, especially after bringing a Socialist Senator to ruin the good economics. On our way home, I stopped by my Lake Havasu house to flush toilets and inspect the gardener's job. well, he is fired. The place looks like crap! While leaving, I stopped by to visit my 56 year old friend and neighbor, but strangely, nobody was home. As I was driving away, I found out he passed away on Thanksgiving morning, because he would rather drink Jack Daniels than to deal with life issues. I am really torn up.

Thrashing to get stuff done so we can take a long weekend to Branson. Havasu, your avatar looks familiar. When we get back I have to letter the police squad's trailer, complete with a thin blue line flag on each side.
Shan, I feel your pain with the injury situation. Hope you get better soon. I tore a hamstring a couple years ago. They first said it was just stretched. but after my leg turn black & blue and swelled to the point my jeans where a tight fit, they said it was torn. That wasn't a surprise to me, the pain even with medication was as bad as any I've had. Right up there with kidney stones and running my fingers through the table saw. I have a knot on the back of my leg now and get cramps at the slightest wrong move. I guess the old body doesn't heel like it did 30-40 years ago.

Shan, I'm glad the doctor was nicer this time and hope the PT goes well.

Havasu, that sucks! If it's any consolation, Arizona has had outbreaks of Bubonic plague and the temperatures have gotten insanely hot in the warmer months. I wonder if Nevada is a better place to live. I think they don't have any state income tax.

Gary, the lettering sounds like it will be cool. Sorry to hear about your leg though.

Yesterday was not great for me bc I went from the excitement of getting my truck back to realizing the repair guy effed up. He also jumped in his car and drove off with the payment after I asked for a receipt. I think he's having some family vacation and was in a hurry to leave, but he also messed up on the repairs badly enough that it could have led to a fatal accident. The outside of the truck looks fine and he told me the error codes would have to be cleared by the computers at the dealership. He was gone before I got in to drive it and discovered the steering wheel wasn't aligned properly. It didn't feel right while driving so after we dropped the CR-V and the dog (who wanted to go for a ride) off at home, I went straight to the dealership. Good thing bc the strut wasn't put in right (wasn't secured tightly-- fasteners were loose) and the nut for the tie rod was missing so it was starting to come loose. Dealership said my tire could have come off while driving and that the truck wasn't safe to drive. Spent a few hours waiting while they checked it out and informed me that they were calling all stop and not touching it further until my insurance sent someone to look at it so they wouldn't get blamed for any problems. The said the tire itself wasn't even on tightly. We had to call my brother to come pick us up. They called today and said the adjuster told them that re-doing the strut & alignment was something I'd have to get reimbursed for from the other repair guy but that it needed a 2nd strut bc they are supposed to be done in pairs. Also said my brakes were due for replacement and rear tpms sensor was blown & needed replacement. They wanted $200 for the latter but I can get it done much cheaper at the local tire shop and I know they are competent there. I will still get a new tpms sensor for the front tire bc it was part of the accident. They also suggested not mentioning the problems to the other repair guy until I got a receipt from him. I called him today and could barely hear him over the kids in the background. He's on vacation and won't be back 'til Sunday so I can get the receipt Monday (or so he claims).

I don't know if he's just incompetent or if he had a lazy worker or what the deal was. I don't think he deliberately tried to make my truck a death trap. I know the usual protocol is to take a vehicle back and give the person a chance to do it right, but it would be more expensive to have it towed back there since it isn't safe to drive and considering it could have led to a potentially fatal accident, I'm not taking my chances. Insurance can withhold $ from whatever else he was owed in the amount of what it costs to repair what he screwed up. He owes them at least $89 for the alignment.

Other than making phone calls today I cleaned up a bunch of dog crap, took my friend's fiance to the cardiologist, got my brother some socks, picked up mail, fed & watered the critters, petted the cow, & got food for Mom. Friend's fiance forgot her medicine in my car so I had to drive back in to give it to her. Been talking to my friend about fixing the house up. He's going to be getting 2 days off a week so he'll have time to come help (I think some time in mid December/early January). I need to check the cat I got spayed to see if her stitches are still in. I've been so busy I totally forgot about getting them removed. I'm thinking of changing her name to Butterball or Blubberball bc she is F A T. If she hadn't just been spayed I'd think she was pregnant.

Tomorrow I get to take my friend to the dentist early in the morning.

My friend wasn't able to get his teeth pulled bc he had an abscess.
Cleaned out my old microwave that was having problems and took it to my friend (his ex has his but she doesn't clean and it's full of roaches so he doesn't want it back). He thinks he can fix it up. I cleaned the countertop and got the new microwave in place. My mother also ordered a new toaster bc I hated the old one. It had buttons that were supposed to change settings for bagel or frozen bread-- there were no indicator lights and it never seemed to do anything different. The cats knocked it on the floor multiple times so the outer case is all askew and the bottom won't stay shut. I think my friend can probably fix it and I don't believe he has a toaster. He doesn't care if something is beat up so long as it works for his purposes. Last time I was over I noticed he's been using the pots and pans we gave him.

Finally got my truck back. The body shop guy still won't take my calls or call back so I may have to go down to his shop. I'm hoping I won't have to go to small claims court. Got my brakes done and airbag recall taken care of while it was at the dealership. They did a full inspection and said everything was fine except for the stuff related to the accident & the brakes. Need to take it back and get some of the error messages cleared though- it's still showing it is due for maintenance (which I had done) and something is up with the DRL (daytime running lights).

My mother got some useless piece of copper that is supposed to make meat defrost faster-- some snake oil gimmick. Didn't work so I had to soak hamburger meat (in a ziplock bag) in hot water for 20 min to thaw it out. I made hamburger & potato stroganoff from a hamburger helper mix. Added a little garlic salt & half a cup of sour cream. There were no leftovers.

I need to do something productive today.

Had water trickling across the shop floor. So, today I replaced the water heater in the shop restroom. Then back to work on regular stuff.

I had my hot water heater go bad about a year after I bought the house, came home from work and water was all over the driveway

They always go bad at the wrong time it seems. We just replaced the one for the rest of the house a couple years ago, so we should be good to go with hot water fro awhile.

I certainly hope so. My current hot water heater is a 100 gallon tank. I hope it lasts 10 more years!

We got a new hot water heater probably 10 years ago & the pressure relief line is done improperly. We'll have to replumb it and get a new one eventually. I'm thinking of trying to find a way to set up a filter to clean at least some of the sediment out of the line before it gets to the heater-- something that won't shorten the life of the rod. Will need to put a drip pan under when we get a new one as well, right now it's sitting on wood.

I got some of the stuff sorted out with my truck. Finally got ahold of the other repair guy and he was annoyed and claimed the dealership was spouting BS about stuff being loose. I told him that the tie rod was absolutely loose bc it started having problems as soon as I started driving it away and I took it straight to the dealership and had to get it fixed and have the alignment done again. He gave no indication that he has any intention of reimbursing us for our out-of-pocket expenses and he said he left the receipt with the towing guy. So I have to get ahold of the towing guy and see whether or not the repair guy was truthful about how much we paid him. I also noticed, on closer inspection there are some missing paint spots on the fender and hood that I will have to touch up. The paint is very smooth at least and it looks like the factory paint. The hood looks like it was never bent, so that much is ok. They just screwed up on not tightening stuff up.

I'm hoping to go back Monday to the dealership to get the daytime running lights fixed. They didn't authorize it even though it was one of the problems with the vehicle as a result of the accident. I also need to get the dealership to clear the notification that the truck is due for maintenance since I just had it done. We had the brakes and alignment done at our expense and with tax it came out over $500. I'm not getting my brakes done there again. We are going to buy the right side strut and get it installed by a friend who has experience with it and get the tpms fixed by the local tire shop that we know we can trust.

Today I did many things.

The "funnest" was playing "Wii Golf" with Wifey-poo.

The "puzzlingest" was being directed to download "FRST64", and then seeing that "Windows 10" wouldn't let the file be run because of a security violation.

?Wazzup wit' dat?

But the tree is up, and all is well..

Hope the same for all..

My oldest and I took his cat to the Vet today.... she had emergency surgery Nov 16 and her blood sugar was high then, but she was septic..... I checked her blood sugar yesterday twice because she keeps peeing and is ravenous and is losing weight and her blood sugar was 400 and 423, so..... we now have a diabetic kitty, shes had her first dose of Lantus and I've misplaced my glucometer somewhere today.... we dont have to check it every day, but.... I'm a nurse so I'm not comfortable with not checking it..... so.... I'll have to search harder shortly

Did training for a week, I got home and there was a pile of dishes in the sink and some water that was having a hard time draining. So I ran the dishwasher not thinking anything would happen got home and the sink was backed up to the top. So down the the basement I go undo the dishwasher line and drain the sink. Back up to the kitchen and I start disassembling the drain pipes the vertical pipe and the first bend of the s trap were plugged solid with grease.

Topher, I hioe you got that fixed.... I had a problem like that once because my sons then girlfriend kept putting grease down the sink.... I just about never got that straightened out

It was 100% plugged fortunately the blockage was just before the bend and with a couple of good whacks against the inside of the garbage can it cleared right out and now it drains better than ever.

Ugh. I hate dishes. I'm the one who has to wash all the dishes and other people don't even rinse their stuff. My brother actually griped at me for not washing his dishes when he hasn't taken out the trash in months.

I ended up not going anywhere on Monday. Tuesday I went with my mother and my best friend and his fiance to the town that has the hardware stores. Looked at several places to find some carpet for his house (the cheap carpet we bought him before got chewed up by mice and a friend who squatted there spilled stuff on it). They now have a kitten that they hope will learn to hunt mice. Anyway, finally found something decent at HD and used Mom's military discount. Put it in the truck and took it to his house and I swept up the floor, helped move furniture, and helped install the padding and carpet. Mom made some disparaging remarks about me not sweeping at home (because she stays in her room or at her desk and doesn't realize that I sweep almost every day).

While we were at Surplus Warehouse we saw some vinyl plank flooring my mother liked, but the AC ratings were not listed and I couldn't find any information on whether or not stuff was waterproof. The salesman insisted it was all entirely waterproof, but when I went to the website to look up some of the stuff, that wasn't true. Some of it said "water resistant" which is not the same thing. I don't think he meant to be misleading, I think he just doesn't know.

I was absolutely exhausted today and I kept getting woken up by the phone now that the lines are fixed. Some scam/phishing thing kept calling over and over about apple computers (of which we have none-- we don't have any apple products). I think they called about 8x but there is no way to tell them to stop calling since it's a robocall. I heated up leftover stuffing and chicken for mom and got some cranberry sauce for it this time. She liked it better than when I first made it- hence why she ate ALL of it and didn't leave me any. LOL.

Tomorrow I'm going to take my friend to go pick up a used stove he saw on facebook marketplace. It has a problem with the LED display but he knows how to fix stuff like that. I'm hoping it won't rain.

Pics of my friend's new carpet:
His fiance likes to watch some really crap "music" videos with some mumblemouth hooker. LOL.

For now they have a floor heater but he wants to get one that can be mounted on the wall. Here's his fiance with their little dog, Callie, on her lap.

My friend is happy with this couch but the fiance wants to get rid of it. If they get a new one I know who they can ask to transport it. LOL.


Here's their kitten, Tux, dramatically splaying herself out on the floor in front of the heater.

That looks great. You are an awesome friend!

Nice carpet laying job zannej. I did the usual sign work, but I took time out to sign up for SS. I'll be officially (semi) retired in March.

Thanks Gary. My friend did most of the heavy lifting and the trimming, but I helped get it in place and held the roll steady while he did some cutting and then helped move some stuff back in.
The oven was incredibly heavy, but I helped him load it into the truck and brought along a tarp and some tiedowns. It was pouring rain on the way there but it didn't rain on the way back. When I was backing in to get it close to his porch we discovered that my front driver tire is rubbing the inner fender and my 4wd is not working. So, I'm going to have to take it to the dealership and figure out why the VTM4 button won't work and why the tire is rubbing.

I told my friend the stove is probably 40 to 50 amp and would need 8/4 or 6/4. Turns out it was the latter so he will need a new breaker and some wire. He messaged my brother to come help move the stove into the house bc he knew I wouldn't be much help transferring it from the truck to the porch. They got it in and I went home to feed Mom.

I'm going to play elder scrolls online for a bit and then take a nap.